


Mischief and Chaos

by GoldenDaydreams



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Anchors, Changelings, Emissary Claudia Stilinski, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fae & Fairies, Fluff, Gen, I do what I want, Minor Claudia Stilinski/Sheriff Stilinski, Miscarriage, Pack Dynamics, Pack Feels, Peter Hale & Claudia Stilinski Friendship, Relationships but they aren't the focus, So you get lil baby kiddos and they cute af, Story takes place over about seventeen years, Talia Hale & Claudia Stilinski Friendship, fuck the lore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:46:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23530285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenDaydreams/pseuds/GoldenDaydreams
Summary: The Stilinski twins are not twins.One is the child of Claudia and Noah Stilinski. The other is a changeling.The pack has a limited time to figure out which is which, while the changeling causes chaos along the way.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	Mischief and Chaos

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting on my laptop for well over a year, possibly two. You may notice changes in how I write between the first and last half of the story, but I don't have time for a re-write, so here it is XD

Emissary Claudia Stilinski had better things to be doing with her time than hiking through the preserve at two in the morning with Peter Hale. However, with the humming under her own skin, she understood just what it was that unnerved him enough to call her. Usually, she’d go with Talia, the Alpha of the Hale family, but considering she was heavily pregnant with her second child it was deemed too dangerous. 

Peter stopped where he stood, the beta shift adjusting his features, claws snapping out to the ready. “See what I mean?” 

“See, no,” Claudia said looking around, her flashlight illuminating the trees. She shifted a little, her arm brushing against his. Having him there made her feel a little more grounded, less ready to listen to that warring fight or fight response building within her. “But feel, yes.” 

He took another couple of steps, she could see the frown on his profile. “Do you… smell that?” 

She took a deep breath through her nose. “Smell what?” All she could catch the scent of was pine needles, dried leaves, and wet earth. 

“Roses.” 

That would be out of place here. “I don’t smell it.” 

“This way,” he insisted, taking a quick left turn and moving through the branches too fast for Claudia to keep up. 

“Damn it, Peter,” she muttered as her sweater caught in a branch. She tugged, and tugged, but the thorn snagged the cotton blend too tight. She muttered a quiet curse, adjusting her grip on the flashlight and pulling the fabric off of the thorn. In the quiet, she listened, but could no longer hear Peter’s footsteps. “I could be at home, in bed, sleeping. But no, here I am stuck in the woods with… no one, no one anymore because someone went off ahead without me. This is just fine, Peter,” she continued muttering to herself, every word filled with spite. Oh, she’d be giving Peter a piece of her mind… as soon as she caught up to him. 

At a clearing, she stopped, and tried to get her bearings. She knew the Preserve fairly well, but even she didn’t know every inch of it. She didn’t have a compass, map, or keen werewolf senses to guide her. The temperature dipped at least ten degrees in a matter of three steps and it put her on high alert. From her wrist, she pulled out an iron dagger- a gift from the man who’d trained her as an emissary. It was mostly a decorative piece, but it made her husband feel better when she went out with it. 

  
She’d expected to have some wolf protection. She looked around and mentally cursed Peter once again. “Hello,” she raised her voice, not caring about being loud, there was a good chance whatever was out there had already found her, and she’d very much appreciate Peter hearing her and finding his way back. 

A lithe being emerged from the trees, eyes slightly too large, hair falling down in spiraling ringlets. The movements were smooth, too smooth, and all wrong. Her grip tightened. “Who are you?” 

“Who are you?” it repeated seeming to float even though she could see its overly thin legs moving. 

“Emissary Stilinski. Who are you?” 

“Emissary Stilinski,” it repeated, this time in her voice. “Who are you?” 

Its hair grew heavy, and darkened until it looked much like Claudia’s own hair. “Stay where you are!” she warned, raising her hand with the dagger. 

“Stay where you are,” it repeated with the same panic. Its facial features readjusted, shifting cheekbones lower, lips more plump, eye colours changing trying to find the right one. 

“Enough!”

“Enough!”

“What are you?” she whispered, fear creeping down her spine. Her spark warm in her gut, flickering desperately needing some kind of incantation, some kind of push.   
It smiled, a mock of her own, so sinister Claudia backed up a step. “What are you?” it asked, slow fingers still entirely too long, and sharp talons edged it. 

It struck out, those claws aiming for her gut, but she jumped back just in time. As she sucked in a breath, she caught the heavy, almost suffocating scent of roses. Refocussing, she swung around with a kick, her boot colliding with a face that looked almost identical to her own. The sound it made- a mix between a laugh and a train derailing- made Claudia’s stomach roll. Whatever it was, needed to die. It struck out again, this time Claudia dodged to the side, her arm moving on an arch, her iron blade slicing across its chest. 

The screech was metal on metal, and it took everything in her power not to cover her ears. She instead struck out once more, aiming for the heart- or at least, where she hoped this thing’s heart would be. The dagger jammed through the skin and bone, and the creature suddenly went limp. 

“Claudia!” she could barely hear Peter’s frantic shouting over her own panting breaths and racing heart. “Claudia!” 

She pulled the knife out, and the body fell to the ground. “Over here,” she yelled, her eyes remaining on the body. The hair once again curled into blonde ringlets.   
Peter ran up next to her, his hand on her shoulder, but his eyes on the body. “What the hell?” he asked as they watched the facial features return to what they’d been before it had shifted to take Claudia’s form. 

“Some kind of shapeshifter, I guess.” 

Peter edged forward, and crouched down. “Oh. Shit.” 

“What?” she said irritably. 

“It’s a faerie.” He sat back on his haunches, ran his hands through his hair. “Fuck, you killed a faerie.” He stood suddenly, grabbed her arm, and started to drag her from the clearing. “That’s why I’ve been smelling roses-“ 

“Peter, stop!” she struggled, but couldn’t get out of his hold, and barely managed not to face plant while tripping over roots. 

“We can’t stop. We need to go, right now. Faeries are easily offended. You might plant something on what they consider their sacred land, and they give you a drought to kill your crops for the next ten years. You just killed one.” 

Instead of arguing, she did her best to keep up, but she could feel it, that cold still lingering, and she swore she saw eyes in the trees. 

“Why would there be faeries in Beacon Hills?” 

“Donno, could have just been passing through,” he pulled her closer, tucking her under his arm as they ran, like he could shield her from retribution. “Might have wanted something-“ 

“It tried to kill me.” 

“That blade made of iron?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Best keep it with you from now own,” he advised grimly. “Faeries can’t cross iron, it weakens them, and it being jammed into their bodies clearly kills them.” 

They went the rest of the way in silence. She’d never been so happy to see the Hale family home. He didn’t let her go to her car, instead dragging her into the house.   
Talia awaited them in the living room, her hand on her rounded stomach. Her eyes widened when she saw their state. “What happened?” 

“Claudia killed a faerie,” Peter said. Claudia heard the sound of his bones cracking as his features smoothing back to human. 

“In self-defense,” Claudia said, glaring at Peter. “And you’re the one who dragged me out into the woods at two in the morning, then left me there.” 

Talia rubbed her temples. “There will surely be a fall out for this.” 

“What kind of fall out?” Claudia asked nervously. Despite being an Emissary for the past eight years, she didn’t know every creature, no matter how hard she tried. And the Fae were tricky, but usually stayed clear of humans. 

“I don’t know,” Talia admitted, her voice soft. “The Fae are unpredictable. You need to be careful.” 

“I’ve got some books at home,” Claudia pushed her hand through her hair. “I’ll see what I can learn about them.” 

“Put something iron over your doors and windows,” Talia advised. “It’ll keep them out of your home.” 

Claudia nodded. “I’ll see to it.” 

“Is Noah still at the station?” Talia asked. 

“Yeah, he has the night shift,” Claudia replied. 

“Stay here tonight,” Talia said. “Your wards around the place should keep any wayward Fae away. Besides, considering my brother dragged you out of bed at this ungodly hour, we should at least offer you a place to rest.” 

“Thank you,” she replied, following as Talia led her to a guest room. 

::

The first month was stressful. Claudia hardly slept, waiting for the Fae’s retaliation. The second month was disrupted by the birth of Talia’s baby boy, Derek. Month three was quiet. Month four, she helped the Hale’s deal with a rogue omega. Eventually half a year slipped by, and nothing happened. Then a year and a half. 

At that point, they decided either the fae knew that it was self-defence, and thus didn’t feel the need to restore some upset of their balance- or they didn’t really know it had been Claudia who killed one of their own- or perhaps that fae had been cast out, like some kind of omega. 

Life settled back into a routine. 

Things were great. 

Claudia entered the front door of the Hale house, while her husband, Noah, went around the back to greet Talia’s husband, Ezra who manned the barbeque. She found Talia in the living room, braiding Laura’s hair. “Hello, hello, guess who brought pie!” 

Laura lit up. “Cherry?” 

“Yes, I know it’s your favourite.” 

Laura smiled, one of her front teeth missing. 

Claudia set the two pie boxes to the side. “One of those better be apple,” Talia said without heat, tying off the end of the braid. “Go on, go bug your Uncle Peter out back.” With a cackle of delight, Laura took off racing through the house, and out the squeaking back door. 

Talia raised a brow when Claudia sat down. “What? I’m sure you smelled that it was apple pie the moment I got out of my car. I don’t really need to confirm it.”   
The alpha laughed, and leaned back in her chair. Derek, who had been quietly playing with his toys on the floor, stood. He picked up his plastic blue truck, and toddled unsteadily over to Claudia. She held out her hands and he put it there and looked up at her. “Thank you, Derek.” 

He babbled a bit, and turned around to grab a building block this time. His socks were giving him a hard time, little traction on the wood floor, and one was half off. He handed her the block, and she thanked him once again. 

Derek did this every time she came to visit. Sometimes, if Noah were in the house too, he’d alternate, bringing her a toy, then Noah, then Claudia. Honestly, it was too precious. By the time he’d brought over all the toys from the floor, and she had her lap covered, Ezra shouted in that dinner was ready. 

“Time for dinner,” Talia said, swooping low, and picking Derek up, and lifting him over her head. “Are you hungry, Derek?” He giggled, delighted, and she brought him low enough to blow a raspberry on his stomach, where his little t-shirt had ridden up. His shriek of delight made Claudia so happy, and she placed her hand on her flat stomach, excited to share the news. 

Getting out from under the small pile of toys, Claudia followed Talia out to the back deck where the table had already been set. She helped by taking the lids off of the salads, and started to fill up the glasses with fruit punch. 

Peter climbed up the deck stairs, Laura over his shoulder, giggling and kicking, but no match for his strength. He glared at his sister. “Your spawn bit me.”   
“That is your niece,” her eyes flashed red. “Do not call her my spawn.” 

The alpha eyes had little to no effect on her brother, who rolled his eyes. “Fine, whatever,” he quickly, but carefully brought Laura back down to her feet, she immediately tried to attack again, but he just put her hand on her forehead to keep her back, keeping his eyes on Talia instead. “But you might want to do something about the biting.” 

“Laura,” Ezra’s deep voice was commanding, and even though he wasn’t even a werewolf, Laura stopped and looked at her father. “Did you bite Peter?” 

“We were playing!” 

“You can’t bite people,” Ezra told her. 

“But he was the robber!” Laura pointed at her uncle. 

Noah put his head in his hands trying not to laugh. “I may have tried to teach her cops and robbers as a game. It’s like tag, there isn’t supposed to be biting.”   
Laura huffed out a breath. “You’d catch more bad guys if you bit them.” 

“No biting,” Ezra said. “Now say you’re sorry to Peter.” 

“I didn’t even break skin.” 

“Laura,” Talia lost her patience, her eyes glowing red. 

Laura swallowed hard, and looked at her light up shoes, before looking up at her uncle with big puppy dog eyes. “Sorry Uncle Peter.” 

He ruffled her hair, messing up the braid, and took a seat at the table. They all settled, and started eating. Derek ignoring the little slices of hotdog in favour of stuffing his mouth with bits of bun, and rubbing ketchup on his face. 

“Mom,” Laura whined. “The baby is a mess.” 

“Well, I’m not going to bathe him until he’s done eating,” Talia said glancing at her son who continued to ignore the hotdog bits (which he’d loved up until the day before) but would keep taking the offered bits of hamburger that Noah was picking off his own burger. 

“What about relish?” Ezra asked, getting a bit of the condiment on a bit of hamburger and passing it over the table. 

Derek grabbed it and shoved it in his mouth chewing before pulling a face and opening his mouth, tilting his head forward and letting the offending food fall from his mouth. Before Talia could stop him, he’d scooped a handful of ketchup once again and stuck half his hand in his mouth, clearly trying to get rid of the relish flavour. 

Ezra snorted. “Well… tomatoes are good for him.” 

Talia managed to clean her son up a little and stripped him of his shirt. It was warm enough outside that he didn’t need it, and it was wet from both ketchup and his water bottle which he’d drank from only to fountain out of his mouth like it was the greatest thing he’d ever discovered. 

She wiped out the tray, and gave him bits of cut up fruits. He happily sucked on an orange, the peel so much bigger than his mouth that he couldn’t choke on it. 

“Can we have pie?” Laura asked. 

“In an hour, okay,” Talia said. “Some of us need some room.” 

“I saved room,” Laura said. “Pie is important. I can eat it now. I could eat the whole pie!” 

“No. Go play for a bit. We’ll call you when it’s time.” 

She sighed, but ran down the stairs and toward the jungle gym that Ezra, Peter, and Noah had built for her. Claudia couldn’t help it, she reached under the table, grabbing her husband’s knee, and soon his hand found hers and their fingers interlocked. Her heart raced, and she smiled at him, and he back at her. 

“What is going on?” Talia asked. “Your heartrates are off the charts.” 

“You need to ask,” Peter snorted. “I’d rather not know, thanks. Get a room. Preferably in your own house.” 

Claudia glared at Peter, then looked back to Noah, who nodded. She took a deep breath. “We have something to tell you all.” 

“You’re not moving, are you?” Talia asked, her eyes wide. 

“No, no, of course not!” Claudia said. “It’s just… we’ve been trying for years, but…” she smiled at Noah, her grip tightening. “We’re having a baby.” 

The shriek Talia let out scared Derek who dropped his orange as he started to bawl. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry. Mommy didn’t mean to scare you.” She removed the tray and brought her son to her chest to soothe him. “Oh my god, I’m so thrilled for you two. You’re having a baby, oh my gosh. I still have some of Laura’s clothes if it’s a girl, and if it’s a boy, Derek is growing out of things like a weed. What about the nursery? Have you started on names-“

“Talia,” Ezra cut his rambling wife off with his usual calm, and warmth. “Relax. I take it you’re not very far along.” 

“We just confirmed it with the doctors yesterday,” Noah said. 

“Congratulations,” Ezra stood and at that point there were hugs all around. 

Claudia smiled warmly in Peter’s embrace as he congratulated them. Despite him usually being a little prickly, they’d long had each other’s back. 

“What is happening?” Laura said joining the adults. “Does this mean we have pie now?” 

Talia tapped her daughter’s nose. “It means that Claudia is having a baby.” 

“A baby. A girl!” Laura ran over and reverently touched Claudia’s stomach. “I want a girl to play with.” 

Claudia grinned. “We don’t really get to choose.” 

Laura frowned. “I know. I told Derek to be a girl when he was in Mommy’s tummy, but he decided to be a boy instead.” She tapped Claudia’s stomach with one finger. “I want you to be a girl? Okay? Then we’ll be best friends, and we can play Cops and Robbers, and I won’t bite.” 

::

While Peter didn’t actually live with Talia, he was over frequently enough that Claudia didn’t think it odd when he opened the door to the Hale house on the preserve that had been in their family for generations. She didn’t even look up at him, couldn’t. She could tell who it was by the fancy Italian leather shoes. Apparently, it didn’t matter that he couldn’t see her face, he made a noise as if all the air had left his lungs, then a whine at the back of his throat that was more the wolf within him than the man.   
She was pulled into his arms, settled onto the couch, and her face pressed into his neck. It would be intimate with a human, she supposed, but with a werewolf, the tactile creatures, it was comfort, and she’d long known that he considered her to be his anchor. To find her unhinged- 

“What happened?” he whispered. 

The sound that tore from her throat was so unlike her, so pained and raw. “My baby,” she sobbed. “Peter, I lost my baby.” Her nails dug into his sweater, and he held her tighter, making that low rumbling sound in his chest that he knew soothed her from the long ago nights of her dating fiascos, and her parents’ divorce. 

“Laura,” Peter’s voice was wrecked. “Go back to bed.” 

Claudia hadn’t noticed the time, or that Talia wasn’t there- Ah, Thursday, Talia and Ezra’s date night, where either Peter or Claudia would babysit- currently Peter’s turn. 

“Is Claudia hurt?” 

“Laura. Bed. Now.” Claudia didn’t look up to know Peter had flashed his eyes at his niece, and while he might not be the Alpha, he still commanded respect as Talia’s second. She heard Laura’s soft, but quick feet climb back up the stairs. 

With Laura gone, Peter continued rubbing her back. “How is Noah taking it?” 

She shrugged a little, choking on the words that didn’t want to come out. Every word made it more real. “He was pretty far in the bottle when I left.” 

“I’m so sorry, Claudia,” he whispered, holding her close. “I know how much you wanted that baby.” 

She sniffled a little. Too exhausted, too hurt, to be mortified about the snot on his shirt. “Do you think this is it? The payback for killing that fae? Eye for an eye?” She pulled back enough to see the pained expression on his face, his eyes a little watery, in a way that he would surely deny to eternity and back if asked. 

His lips parted to speak, but that little wolfish whine escaped instead. She knew it only happened when he was truly upset. In fact, she could count the times it had happened in her presence- the funeral for his father, during the breakdown he had after dating a woman who ended up being a hunter who had tried to burn the family house down, and a few years later after the funeral for his mother. It also tended to happen whenever she was deeply upset around him. 

“I don’t know,” he whispered, like that was all the volume he could even manage. “I shouldn’t have called you out there that night. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” 

She shook her head and he immediately silenced. “We did our jobs. We had to protect the pack.” 

“I shouldn’t have left you alone. I thought you were right behind me, you’re always right behind me-“

“I’m not blaming you.” And the only thing worse than losing her child would be to lose her child and then lose her support system too. It was bad enough Noah turned to the bottle to try to numb the loss, she couldn’t deal with losing Peter too. 

“Do you want me to call Tali?” 

She rested her head back against his chest and shook her head. “No, no, let them have their night.” 

::

She fell back into the step of her life. If she’d managed to keep her child to term, she’d have given birth by now. It left a hollow feeling in her chest. Instead, she tried not to be bitter while she watched her best friend’s children grow. Her part-time job, and her duties as an Emissary kept her busy, and busy was exactly what she wanted to be.   
Stepping out of her car, she slammed the car door a little harder than strictly necessary. The day had been fine until a few tourists came through being all too rowdy and disrupting her already volatile nature. Stress and grief kept mounting, and she still hadn’t really figured out how to deal with it rather than burying it. 

Noah’s SUV was in the driveway. The promotion to Sheriff last year had come with a salary raise, and the vehicle. He too had buried his grief in work, but at least had stopped trying to drown it in alcohol. 

She opened the door to the scent of cooked ground beef, and spices. She dropped her purse by the front door and followed her nose to the kitchen. The table had been draped in a bright, sunny table cloth, there were two burning candles on it, the good china on the table. With her lip pinched between her teeth, she tried to figure out if there was an important date she was missing but came up blank. 

“What are you doing?” she asked her husband, who was poking at something on the stove top. 

He turned off the burner, and set the spatula aside. Instead of saying anything, he walked over, wrapped his arms around her and held her close. She breathed in the scent of his cologne- the same one he’d worn since she bought him a bottle for their first anniversary- the familiarity and warmth had her sinking into the embrace. “These past few months haven’t been easy for either of us,” he said softly. “I just thought, maybe we could try again.” 

She pulled back, needing to know they were on the same page. “For a baby?” 

He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “We need to at least talk about it.” 

For the first few months, she couldn’t bear to think about it. For a few months after that, he was still too worried about how it had affected them both individually, and as a couple to risk it. She threaded her fingers in his hair to bring his forehead to hers. “And you thought tacos would soften me up?” 

He chuckled. “I know you well.” 

She burst out laughing, and it felt like shaking off cobwebs. “Jerk.” 

“I was actually going to make a roast, but I burned it… a lot.” 

She raised a brow. “You didn’t set the stove on fire again, did you?” 

“No,” he scoffed. She only believed him because last time it had taken three days to air out their house. 

“So,” she stepped further into his space, pressing their bodies together. “Baby?” 

“Yeah,” he breathed against her lips. 

She kissed him briefly. “I love you.” 

“I love you,” he whispered back before his lips claimed hers. 

Clothes ended up heaped on the kitchen floor where they ended up tangled in one another. Luckily they hadn’t taken it to the bedroom considering the way the taco shells caught fire. Claudia laughed bright, and happy as her naked husband threw a few cups of water into the stove, putting out the flames. Despite the bit of damage, he laughed too, and it was almost like before. She reached out to him, and realized, finally, finally they were healing. 

::

Claudia gave birth to her perfectly healthy baby boy in a home birth with help from Talia. Bless her friend being a midwife. Of course, they didn’t just have her own baby to be happy about, Talia had announced her third pregnancy four months ago, and soon there would be another child running around. 

The next day, the entire Hale family came over to meet the new little bundle of joy. Claudia, still sore, moved around slowly. She carried the child in her arms to the living room where the Hales were just getting settled. She noticed Peter come up behind her, he pretended just to be taking a peek over her shoulder at the babe, but she felt his fingertips at her neck, and her pain drifted away. “Has your eyes,” he noted, then sauntered into the living room to acquire a seat. 

“Another boy,” Laura whined when she saw the blue blanket. She huffed out a breath, and took out her bag of toys. 

“Baby,” Derek said pointing.

“Yes,” Claudia sat down in her favourite chair, and leaned forward with the child a bit so Derek could see him. “This is Mieczyslaw, but we’re just going to call him Stiles.”   
At that moment, Stiles raised his little fists with a big yawn which startled the three year old Derek back a step. He considered the baby a moment, before going and grabbing one of his toy trucks and bringing it to the baby, trying to put it in the little fist. Claudia took it with a thank you. Derek apparently thought that was close enough, and he went off after his sister to see what she was playing with. 

Talia stood before her making grabby hands. “Gimme.” Claudia knew her son would be in good hands, and passed him over. “Oh, how sweet,” Talia said. “We meet again, Stiles. How are you today?” The baby fussed a little, but Talia swayed as she walked around the room and he settled in her arms. 

They chatted, little Stiles was passed around to Ezra for a while, then Peter who made faces at the little boy who seemed pleased enough. Laura eventually came over to inspect the child in her uncle’s arms, obviously still disappointed she hadn’t gotten the girl she’d wanted. Stiles seemed to focus on her with his large amber eyes, and his fist came out and bopped her nose. 

“Hey,” she said backing up a step, her hand over her nose. She then laughed. “Maybe you’ll be alright.” Her eyes flickered a little, and Claudia tensed, but it didn’t seem like Laura had any control over it, nor did any other werewolf features come out. 

“Baby,” Derek said coming over to stand with his sister. 

“Yeah, I know,” Laura said.

“Hi,” Derek waved at the baby, who only made a waving motion because he was trying to get his hand unstuck from the blanket. Derek grabbed a stuffed toy, a lion, and brought it to Stiles. “Rawr!” 

Claudia smiled at how sweet the Hale children were with her child. She could already see them running amok in the back yard, or on the jungle gym at the Hales, or playing hide-and-seek in the preserve. 

When Stiles started fussing, Claudia took him to the nursery, gave him some milk, and kissed his forehead. “Sleep well, Mieczyslaw.” She laid him down in his crib for his nap, and rejoined her friends in the living room. 

The Hales were generous, and gave what amounted to a good portion of a baby’s wardrobe, a few thick cardboard books, and a play mat with dangling bits for the baby to play with. Surprisingly, Peter just gave her a cheque that made her eyes widen, he’d simply shrugged and said, ‘I don’t know what babies need.’ She smiled and thanked her surly friend with a hug, he rolled his eyes, but tightened his arms around her. 

Derek and Laura had gotten into a bit of a fight when Derek had walked over and taken Laura’s toy away, so she’d tripped him, so he’d yelled and cried. “And you have another one on the way,” Peter said to his sister while looking at his niece and nephew with mild disdain. 

“Hey,” Talia’s eyes flashed red when they looked and both of them immediately settled. She then shot a smug look at her brother. 

Derek was still upset though, sniffling and holding his hands out to his father, reaching to him for comfort. Claudia had noticed it before, even with Laura. The children didn’t go to Talia for comfort, they went to Ezra. Talia was good with her children, a born protector, an alpha, but when it came to soft and comfort, they went to the human of their family. 

Ezra pulled Derek up onto his lap, and the boy settled curling up with is dad, and going to suck his thumb only to have his father gently pull it away. “No need for that. You’re big. How many years old are you?” 

Derek held up three fingers. “T’ree.” 

“That’s right, you’re three. So big.” 

Derek smiled at his Dad, then wiggled back down and went to the frilly bags. “No, Derek,” Talia said. “Those are presents for the baby.” 

“The baby?” 

“Yes.” 

Derek looked around at the floor, and walked over to the lion, he picked it up and brought it to the bags, putting it on top of all the decorative tissue. 

“Der, what are you doing?” Talia asked. 

He huffed out a breath, as if it should be obvious. “For the baby,” he pointed to the bag. 

“You want to give the baby your lion?” Talia asked, raising a disbelieving brow. 

“Yeah, baby lion.” 

She tilted her head. “Fine, you have like fifty stuffed toys at home. You’re hardly going to miss one.” 

“That’s the one he sleeps with,” Ezra warned. 

“Crap, you’re right.” 

Talia tried to take it out of the bag, and Derek shook his head. “No, no!” He shouted reaching and when Talia passed him the lion, this time he shoved it down into the bag, under the pink and blue tissue. “For the baby!” 

“Okay! But you better remember this when it’s time for bed tonight.” 

He glared at his mother till Talia returned to her spot on the couch between Ezra and Noah. Deciding the lion was safe, Derek grabbed his toy truck and started pushing it over the rug. 

It wasn’t long until the baby monitor went off, and Claudia smiled at the sound of her little boy. She jumped up before Noah could, but she could see the excitement on his face, he was absolutely thrilled to be a father, every bit as much as she was overjoyed to be a mother. “I’ll get him,” she said, walking toward the stairs, feeling Noah’s adoring eyes on her. 

Everything in her life was so perfect. Married to the man of her dreams, who loved, and cherished her and their son, who worked so hard for their home, and their happiness. She had a perfect little son, healthy and happy. She had incredible friends, whom she could trust with her life, and more importantly, with her family. She had a good part-time day job at a coffee shop where she could interact with the people she protected with her job as an Emissary. All in all, it couldn’t be better. And when she opened the door to the nursery, when she looked into the crib, everything fell apart, and she screamed. 

  
::

Noah raced up the stairs nearly knocking Talia over who’d almost beaten him. Apparently, fear can put a great deal of stamina into a man. He grabbed the door frame to stop his momentum, and looked into the nursery. Claudia stood there with her hands over her mouth. 

He strode into the room, pushed past his wife. He expected some supernatural monster, or even a large spider. Anything but this. 

There were two identical children in the crib, both crying, both waving angry fists. 

“What?” he reached in. Both boys were warm to the touch. “How?” 

Talia stood at the foot of the crib, looking in. 

“My fault,” Claudia said, pulling at her hair. “This is my fault.” 

“What the hell is going on?” Noah demanded. 

“Remember how I told you about the Faerie I killed, how we waited for an attack.” 

“Of course,” Noah replied. “You made me hang iron scissors above the doors of the police station.” 

“This is retaliation,” Claudia sobbed.

“But-how?” Noah looked at the boys. 

“Changeling. One of them is your son,” Talia said. “ The other is a Fae who will cause destruction in your life.” 

“Can you tell them apart?” Noah asked Talia. “With scent or something?” 

She shook her head.

Peter darkened the doorway, his claws out. “The kids are with Ezra, since the screaming stopped, I figured they were safe enough.” 

“Put those claws away,” Talia said, motioning her brother closer. 

Peter looked into the crib. “Only thing worse than a child, is two.” 

“Peter!” Talia growled, her eyes red. 

Peter tilted his head a bit. “Changeling?” 

“Must be,” Talia agreed. 

“I know none of you want to hear it, but you might want to kill them.” 

“Stop it,” Talia snarled. 

“It’ll grow in power, and it’s only goal is to cause maximum damage. That’s what they do. It’s why people kill babies in the woods and burn the bodies.” 

And with that, Peter was up against the wall, Noah’s fists clenched in the fancy dress shirt. “Enough! You will not talk about my son that way!” 

“I know you don’t want to hear it- hell, I don’t want to say it, but you don’t know which one your son is!” Peter snapped, shoving Noah back. “And a Changeling growing in its power, it could kill everyone you’ve ever cared about before it is stopped. They’re tricksters, master manipulators, it’s obviously the revenge of the fey, which means that destroying everything Claudia loves is the game.” 

“We will figure it out,” Talia said sharply, eying her brother into submission. “We’ll look into the lore, and come up with a plan.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “What I do know is that they don’t go and try destroying lives until their old enough to do so. Infancy is pretty safe. We have time to figure this out. Until then, we should probably give them each a name to keep from getting confused.” 

“Call one Mie-slaw, however you pronounce it,” Peter said, “and the other Stiles.” 

“No, those are our son’s names. Our real son,” Claudia said. “We had a couple of back-ups.” Noah managed to catch her eye, and she looked so close to broken. “We could call one Silas, and one Maverick. We can keep one dressed in blue, the other green, or something, to keep them separate.” 

“We’ll figure this all out,” Talia said, her hand on Claudia’s shoulder. “We will.” 


End file.
